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SOVIET RUSSIA PAMPHLETS, No. 4 

The Protection of 
Labor in Soviet Russia 



BY 

S. KAPLUN 

of the Commissariat of Labor 



Price 10 Cents 



- NEW YORK 
The Russian Soviet Government Bureau 
110 West 40th Street 
1920. 



THE Russian Soviet Government 
Bureau has issued a series of 
pamphlet reprints of important 
Soviet documents. The following are 
the first four of these pamphlets: 

(1) The Labor Laws of Soviet Russia. Official 
text, with introduction, by the Bureau and an answer 
to a criticism by Mr. W. C. Redfield. Second Edition. 
52 pages, stiff cover, price 10 cents. 

(2) The Laws on Marriage and Domestic Re- 
lations. To be ready about September 1st. Price 
1 5 cents. 

(3) Two Years of Foreign Policy, by George 
Chicherin. The relations of the Russian Socialist 
Federal Soviet Republic with foreign nations, from 
November 7, 1917, to November 7, 1919. 36 pages, 
stiff paper cover, price 10 cents. 

(4) Protection of Labor in Soviet Russia, by 
S. Kaplun, of the People's Commissariat of Labor. 
This pamphlet, an interpretation of the labor laws of 
Soviet Russia, is necessary to a full understanding 
of these laws, and readers should therefore order it 
in addition to their copies of the laws. This pamphlet 
has never been published in "Soviet Russia." Price 
10 cents. 

Other pamphlets will follow. Special rates for 
quantities. 

Addresss 

"SOVIET RUSSIA" 

Room 304 
110 West 40th Street New York, N. Y. 

Are you reading our weekly, "Soviet Russia," the offi- 
cial organ of the Russian Soviet Government Bureau? 



The Protection of 
Labor in Soviet Russia 



BY 

S. KAPLUN 

of the Commissariat of Labor 



NEW YORK 

The Russian Soviet Government Bureau 

110 West 40th Street 

1920 



v*# 



NOTE ON THE TEXT 



The present essay is a study of the operation 
of the Labor Laws of the Soviet Republic, which 
were printed as the first pamphlet of this series. 

The present pamphlet was originally printed at 
Petrograd in English in 1920, and the present 
edition is a reprint of the Petrograd copy, zvith 
only such alterations as were necessary from 
the standpoints of English and typographical 
correctness. 



PROTECTION OF I/ABOR IN SOVIET RUSSIA. 

1. Protection of labor In Soviet Russia before the 
establishment of the Soviet Government. 

The Soviet Government, the government of the 
workers and the poorest peasants, was the first 
seriously to raise in Russia the question of social 
protection of labor. 

Under the Czarist Government, which was the 
embodiment of the whip and the fist, all the instruc- 
tions and wishes of the landlord class and big ma- 
nufacturers were faithfully carried out.* Naturally 
enough, factory legislation was in a more backward 
state than in any other part of the world. In ac- 
cordance with the Law of 1897, the working day 
officially was 11*4 hours, while in reality the work- 
man was compelled to work far longer than that; 
this was due to the great amount of overtime — 
compulsory and "uncompulsory", the latter only on 
paper; — in actual life extreme destitution and the 
complete absence of rights of the workers com- 
pelled them fully to submit to all the proposals of 
the manufacturers. Children were permitted to go 
to work even at the age of 12; according to the 
law of 1882 youngsters up to the age of 15 were 
forbidden to be engaged at night work, whilst dur- 
ing the day their labor was not to exceed 8 hours. 

Even these inadequate laws, however, soon appear- 
ed to be too great a compromise in the eyes of the 
"European gendarme", and subsequently Czarism 
gave to the manufacturers a great number of loop- 
holes and means to evade the law. The first step 
in this direction was the permission of uninterrupt- 
ed 6 hour work instead of the former 4 hours work 
for children. When working two shifts children 



were allowed to be engaged for 9 hours a day dur- 
ing the two shifts instead of the maximum 8 hour 
working day according to the law of 1882. Night 
work was permitted for children in the glass industry, 
although from a hygienic point of view this is one 
of the most harmful trades; yet this night work was 
permitted owing to the fact that it was demanded 
by the interests of the industrial magnates. Further, 
the factory inspection was given the right to per- 
mit Sunday and holiday work for children. Finally, 
night work, which was generally prohibited by law 
to children and women could be sanctioned by the 
factory and works managements, or by the governor 
of the gubernia, in all cases where such children 
were engaged in work together with their parents, 
that is to say, this night work became a general rule. 

With regard to the protection of woman labor, 
nothing at all was undertaken. No care whatsoever 
was taken of the sanitary and hygienic state of 
factories or workshops. In the sphere of technical 
safety and safeguards from dangerous machines, the 
government acted very timidly, almost refraining 
from establishing any important rules or obligatory 
regulations. 

Little can be said of the rights of the workers. 
Absolute rule of the employer, endless fines and 
impositions, dismissal of workers without serious 
reason, constant interference of the police, and arm- 
ed force at the first signs of agitation of the work- 
ers, — such is the well remembered picture of 
Russian factory life. Equally little was done in the 
sphere of social maintenance of the workers in the 
event of loss of livelihood. Social insurance, which 
was established only in 1903, and was more or less 
developed by the legislation of 1912, provided only 
for cases of sickness and accidents. But in spite of 
the fact that the workers were heavily taxed for 
state insurance, unemployable men were given a 
most beggarly assistance. And even here insurance 
did not by any means embrace all the workers. 

Especially important was the character of those 
organs which were charged with the enforcement 



of the laws for the protection of labor. The direct 
agents of supervision were the factory inspectors r— r 
state officials who submissively carried out all the 
instructions of capital. 

In accordance with the laws, instructions, and 
circulars, they were to work in the closest possible 
collaboration with the police and were even direct- 
ly subordinated to the governor of the gubernia 
in question. One of their principal tasks was to 
prevent strikes and fight every strike that occurred. 
The leading local organ of factory supervision was 
the so-called gubernia board of administration for 
factories and mines. The composition of this board 
is quite characteristic: the governor presides and 
the entire upper local hierarchy are members of 
this board: the vice-governor, the public prosecutor, 
the chief of police, the chief factory inspector, and 
the district engineer. To endow this constellation 
with greater authority, another element interested 
in protection of labor was introduced, namely: four 
members of the local manufacturers and factory 
proprietors. It is obvious, therefore, that under 
Czarism protection of labor was actually turned 
into protection of capital against labor. 

When Russian Czarism gave place to that miser- 
able miscarriage — the Coalition Government, re- 
presenting a mixture of the big industrial bourgeoisie 
with the anaemic middle class personified by the 
Socialist-Revolutionaries and the Mensheviks, pro- 
tection of labor ceased to be a scarecrow. But it is 
plain enough that the vacillating Menshevik oppor- 
tunist Ministry of Labor, ever apprehensive of en- 
croaching upon the interests of the bourgeoisie, was 
not capable of serious work in this sphere. The 
result of this is that for the 8 months from Feb- 
ruary to October 1917, only pitiful attempts were 
made with regard to protection of labor, the most 
characteristic of which is the project of "labor in- 
spection" consisting in the appointment of higher 
specialists and of workers who were to act only in 
the capacity of "assistants". In every other respect 
the old Czarist laws remained inviolate, and in ad- 



dition to this, constant deviation was allowed in the 
interests of the bourgeoisie upon the first demand 
of the kings of "national" capital. 



11. The Soviet Government and Protection of 
Labor. 

The position radically changed when the revo- 
lutionary proletariat overthrew the political, and 
what is still more important, the economic domi- 
nation of the propertied classes, and in alliance with 
the poorest part of the peasantry took the power 
into its hands. Protection of labor instantly became 
one of the most important and serious aspects of 
Soviet work. The importance that was attached 
to protection of labor by the Soviet Government can 
be judged from the fact that on the 29th of October, 
1917,* four days after the proclamation of proleta- 
rian dictatorship, a decree was published on "the 
length and distribution of working time"; this decree 
instantly provided an introductory code of laws for 
the protection of labor, embodying all the old revo- 
lutionary demands of the working class, such as the 
eight hour working day, a number of measures in 
the field of protection of child and woman labor, 
and so forth. 

Owing to the fact that our industry has been al- 
most entirely nationalized by this time, and is 
administered by organs of proletarian dictatorship 
our protection of labor now takes place, not as form- 
erly, in a struggle against the big employers, but on 
the contrary, in complete agreement and in close col- 
laboration with the industrial organs. Our real 
achievements in protection of labor increase in pro- 
portion to the growth of the power of the Soviet 
Government and the improvement of its internation- 
al, political and economic position. The Soviet Go- 
vernment's entire work on labor protection rests on 
the very effective creative activity of the masses of 
the workers. For this reason our state organs of 



November 11, 1917 New Style. 

7 



labor protection are established by the Trade Unions, 
and are elected by the Trade Union amalgama- 
tions, and their activity is carried on in close con- 
tact with the Trade Unions. Finally, labor protec- 
tion in Russia embraces without exception all wage 
workers, contrary to the Western countries. Our 
labor protection laws are equally applied to large 
works and factories, as well as to crafts, to home 
industries, to transport and agricultural laborers, 
to clerks, shop assistants and domestic servants. 

1. Working Hours 

The laws passed as early as November, 1917, 
have legislated an 8-hour working day, a measure 
in its time carefully avoided by the compromising 
government of Kerensky. Subsequently this law 
was confirmed in the "Code of Labor Laws" issued 
on the 10th of December 1918.* Overtime is allow- 
ed only as an exception, in cases where production 
is of extreme social importance and when it is not 
possible correspondingly to increase the number of 
workers or to arrange the work in two or three 
shifts. In all such cases the sanction is required 
of the trade unions for tax on all overtime, in ad- 
dition to which the confirmation of the inspector 
of labor is also required. All overtime work is paid 
for as time and a half. In accordance with the 
Code of labor laws the standard of night work for 
every worker is established as seven hours instead 
of eight, but is paid for as eight hours. 

But not all workers work eight hours. All mental 
and sedentary workers, in view of the mental strain 
incurred, have a 6 hours working day. : In except- 
ionally difficult or harmful work, such as tobacco 
manufacture, gas works, certain chemical works, and 
so forth, the working day is reduced to 7 and even 
to 6 hours a day. 

During the working day an interval for dinner is 



* The Code of Labor Laws, as published by the Commissariat 
of Justice, was reprinted, with several interpretative essays, 
by the Russian Soviet Government Bureau, Price Ten Cents. 

8 



established at every factory, lasting from 30 mi- 
nutes to 2 hours, during which the worker can re- 
cuperate to some extent. Every worker is entitled 
to a weekly rest which is to consist of 42 hours con- 
tinuous and uninterrupted. Therefore on the eve 
of all holidays factories are closed two hours be- 
fore the usual time. In all work which cannot be stop- 
ped even for a single day (as in the case of nurses, 
engine-drivers, tramway, electric or gas workers, 
etc.), the workers are afforded a day's rest some 
other day of the week instead of the regular holiday. 
Finally, in Russia for the first time in the history 
of industry, obligatory leave with the preservation 
of the full wage or salary has been introduced for 
all workers and employees. Every worker who has 
been employed either in one or in several places for 
six continuous months is entitled, according to the 
"Code of Labor Laws" to a fortnight's leave, those 
who have worked for a year to a month's leave. In 
view of the great economic crisis, only a fortnight's 
leave is permitted at the present time, with the ex- 
ception of all workers engaged in harmful produc- 
tion, as well as children, all of whom are given an 
additional fortnight's leave.' 

2. Protection of Female Labor 

One of the most important aspects of the acti- 
vity of labor protection is the protection of women, 
which is an essential condition for the health of 
the children of the proletariat. In accordance with 
the Code of Labor Laws, all underground, night and 
overtime work for women in Russia is forbidden. 

Particular attention is paid to pregnant women. 
Expectant mothers engaged in physical labor are 
liberated 8 weeks prior to confinement. Women en- 
gaged in mental labor, which has a smaller influence 
thart physical labor, upon the child, during the 
mother's period of pregnancy, are liberated from 
their work 6 weeks prior to confinement. Every wo- 
man worker or employee is fully paid during the 
whole period of leave. Having given birth, all wo- 
men are freed from work for another period of 8 

9 



weeks in the case of physical workers or 6 weeks in 
the case of mental workers, with full pay. 

To give the mother an opportunity herself to 
feed the child, which is of great importance for its 
health and development, a half hour's leave after 
every three hours of work is granted to every wo- 
man who feeds her child by breast. Wherever 
possible nurseries are established at all large enter- 
prises, where the mother is able t® leave her child un- 
der proper care during her working hours and feed it 
during the intervals. In a number of towns special 
"Mother and Child" houses have been established 
where the woman worker can pass the last months 
of her pregnancy as well as the period of lactation 
and can learn the art of rearing her child. In ad- 
dition to this, in order to raise the general level of 
the life of the mother who feeds her child by breast, 
every woman worker is granted an additional sub- 
sidy during the period of lactation; in Moscow this 
amounts to 600 roubles per month. Immediately 
after having given birth, a special grant is made 
to the extent of a fortnight's minimum pay (720 
roubles for Moscow) for the baby's clothes and all 
other necessaries. 

All this greatly aids in preserving the health of 
the woman worker and her capacity to produce 
healthy, normal offspring for the proletariat, which 
forms an essential basis of the building of the future 
of the victorious class. 



10 



in. Child Labor. 

In all countries the protection of labor and the 
protection of children from, the heartless exploita- 
tion of capital met insurmountable obstacles in the 
shape of private profits. Only the Soviet Govern- 
ment has set itself to the task of actually saving 
the young proletarian generation from premature 
degeneration, the effect produced by hard daily 
work upon the young and still weak organisms. 

According to our laws children under the age of 
16 are not allowed to engage in any work. In spe- 
cial cases children of 14 — 16 may be given work, 
only with the permission of the Labor Inspector 
and only in such cases where there is acute material 
need and where it is impossible to establish them 
in schools, homes and other State institutions., For 
all young children who have not reached the age 
of 16, and who are already working in factories, etc. 
a four hours working day is established. Minors 
(between the ages of 16 and 18) do not work long- 
er than six hours a day. All minors who have not 
reached the age of 18 are forbidden overtime, night 
work and underground work. 

Children of tender age (up to 14 years of age) 
who are found working in any enterprise are gradu- 
ally withdrawn from the work; every care being 
taken that these children are not left idle or with- 
out means of existence and thus do not fall into the 
hands of street speculation. They are withdrawn 
from work only when it becomes possible to estab- 
lish them in schools, in children's communes, or 
other educational institutions. At the same time, 
wherever a child gave financial assistance to its 
family, the latter is correspondingly recompensed. 
In the withdrawing of children from work as well 
as in protection of child labor, the League of Youth 
and the trade unions are participating. 

11 



Special care is also taken that children are not 
engaged in harmful, dangerous or hard work and 
that their work should at the same time serve as 
a school for their future occupations. The reduced 
working day for children and minors is paid fully 
according to the tariff scale. 



12 



IV. Sanitary and Technical Protection of L*abor. 

The problem of protection of labor is not only 
the struggle against the degeneration of the pro- 
letariat by establishing, by means of legislation, con- 
ditions of labor, protection against overwork, and 
especially against undue strain and exhaustion of its 
weaker elements, women and children, but also 
to effect real improvements and changes in the 
general conditions in which the workman lives. 
With this object in view special attention is paid 
to the sanitary and hygienic construction of enter- 
prises, to the housing problem, hospitals, schools, 
nurseries and so forth. Measures are also taken to 
prevent accidents, by means of a proper construction 
of industrial buildings, machinery safeguards, in- 
spection of steam boilers, lifts, and so forth. 

It is of course impossible immediately to achieve 
important results in this sphere. The old form 
of production, which was mainly concerned with the 
profit of the owners, took no care whatsoever of 
the health of the workers. As a result of this we 
are left with a legacy from the bourgeoisie of close, 
filthy, dark and technically badly equipped enter- 
prises, in which the worker daily ruins his health, 
and which have acquired the appropriate name of 
"exhausters". The Soviet Government has com- 
menced a serious battle against dust, high tempe- 
rature, poisonous fumes and gases and other" in- 
dustrial evils. A number of compulsory regulations 
of a sanitary and technical character, applying to 
all enterprises, as well as to individual forms of pro- 
duction, have been established^ The organs of 
Inspection of Technical and Sanitary conditions of 
labor take all measures for every possible improve- 
ment as to safety, industrial hygiene and sanitation. 

The housing conditions of the working class are 
closely connected with their conditions of labor, and 

13 



therefore the organs of the Protection of Labor 
pay particular attention to the housing question. 
X>etailed regulations concerning the construction 
and furnishing, etc., of the houses in connection with 
the factories and works are issued by the People's 
Commissariat for Labor. This Commissariat has 
also drawn up model plans of houses and separate 
workers' dwellings, as well as of whole workers' set- 
tlements where the demands of hygiene fully coincide 
with comfort and economy. In the various loca- 
lities every measure is taken to improve the sani- 
tary conditions of the workers' dwellings and to 
reduce the prevailing lack of room. The entire 
working class is interested in taking part in the im- 
provement of housing conditions, furnishing etc., 
through their factory committees. An extensive 
sanitary and educational activity is carried on 
among them for this purpose. 



14 



V. Other Questions of Protection of Labor. 

The above questtions exhaust by no means the 
many-sided legislative activity of the Protection of 
Labor organs in Soviet Russia: it is impossible to deal 
with them fully in a small pamphlet. I will point out 
in brief the following aspects of it. At present every 
worker engaged in physical labor is supplied free 
of charge with working clothing made according 
to the requirements of labor protection. In addition 
to these, in all factories which expose workers to a 
danger of poisoning, or where the workers are sub- 
ject to dampness or filth, etc., special protective 
clothing is supplied. The standard and kind of 
such clothing and footwear, as well as the category 
of workers to be supplied, is defined by the People's 
Commissariat of Labor. All working men and wo- 
men engaged in harmful trades are supplied with 
soap, free of charge, in spite of the acute shortage 
of soap in the Soviet Republic. 

Protection of labor includes not only persons em- 
ployed in the ordinary way but also those who are 
subject to labor service. The Soviet Government 
as a proletarian dictatorship which is based on 
labor makes an effort to assure normal and healthy 
conditions for the labor of those who have been mo- 
bilized for work. Special regulations regarding the 
application of the Code of Laws to labor service have 
been drawn up, in connection with which there 
have also been established special commissions for 
the proper utilization of labor. The question has 
now been put forward regarding the establishment 
of special organs of the protection of labor in con- 
nection with the labor armies. Notwithstanding 
the difficult conditions of the present moment, the 
People's Commissariat of Labor is carrying on scien- 
tific investigation of harmful trades. In accordance 
with the fundamental principles of the Soviet Govern- 

15 



ment the working masses themselves are attracted 
to this work. The Trade Unions in conjunction with 
doctors and engineers study in detail the circum- 
stances and conditions of work of every individual 
trade. At the present time the Department of 
Protection of Labor of the Labor Commissariat is 
organizing a special institute for the study of labor; 
a number of experimental laboratories, clinics for 
trade diseases and cabinets for medical statistics 
have been established. This Institute is to serve as 
the first scientific establishment in Russia in connec- 
tion with questions of the protection of labor, after 
the type of similar institutions in the largest centres 
of Western Europe and America. The People's 
Commissariat of Labor has, at the same time, estab- 
lished an experimental study of the questions of 
a hygienic labor efficiency. Fully recognizing the 
necessity of a scientific organization of production 
Soviet Russia cannot, however, completely accept 
the system of Taylor and other American engineers, 
who fail to take into consideration the interests 
and the health of the workers. The problem of 
the hygienic efficiency of labor is to unite all the 
scientifically correct and rational foundations of the 
Taylor system with the needs of physiology and 
labor hygiene. 

It is necessary to mention the extensive cultural 
and educational work which is being carried on 
directly at the factories and works, and in the very 
thick of the working masses, by the organs of labor 
protection. One of the basic principles of our work 
is the effort to make of every workman, even of 
the most backward, an intelligent factor for his 
own labor protection. To this end the Inspectors of 
Labor and other workers in the sphere of the pro- 
tection of labor continuously arrange lectures and 
reports on various subjects of labor legislation, of 
the history of the protection of labor, of hygiene, 
sanitation and safety. 



,16 



VI. Inspection of Labor. 

One of the chief questions of the organization 
of labor protection with which the Soviet Govern- 
ment was faced, is the establishment of an insti- 
tution for the supervision of the proper realization 
of labor protection laws. The revolutionary ele- 
ments of the proletariat of all countries have always 
put forward the demand that labor inspection should 
be transferred to the labor organizations. But even 
the so called "Revolutionary" Government of the 
first period of the Russian Revolution did not dare 
to take this measure. Like certain Western Eu- 
ropean countries, it considered it the maximum of 
radicalism to admit even as assistants in this in- 
spection, workers who enjoyed no authority or 
rights. These assistants had no right to be 
connected with any labor organization and their 
whole business was to represent a semi-actual re- 
presentation of the proletariat in the organization 
of the protection of labor. Only an assistant who 
had passed four months in this unenviable role 
of official and who had by this time completely 
estranged himself from the masses could become 
an inspector of labor. 

The proletarian revolution, of course, instantly 
put an end to this system and realized the old 
revolutionary motto of elected labor inspection. By 
the decree of the 7th of May, 1918, the old labor 
inspection, hateful to the Russian working class, 
was abolished, and in its place was established a 
purely proletarian labor inspection. The principal 
decree was furthermore developed and supplement- 
ed with a number of orders, instructions and cir- 
culars. 

Labor inspectors are elected at labor conferences 
of representatives of trade unions and of factory 
and works committees of those districts in which 

17 



they are to serve. Only where the convening of such 
conferences is impossible, do the elections take place 
at the local trade union councils. In this way the 
closest contact between the labor inspectors and 
the working masses by whom they are delegated 
is secured. The election process in itself is of 
the greatest educational and propaganda import- 
ance. At these elections working masses become 
acquainted with the general principles and practice 
of the protection of labor in Soviet Russia, as well as 
with the decrees and instructions, in connection with 
labor protection. The delegates visit their localities 
and make reports concerning the conference, and 
in this manner obtain the direct participation of 
the masses in the work of labor protection. 

Upon his election, the Inspector of labor, though 
directly subordinated to the Labor Department 
works at the same time in close contact with all 
the local trade unions and also carries out all the 
instructions of the local council of trade unions, 
which is empowered to withdraw any inspector who 
may turn out to be inefficient. The supervision of 
the labor inspector includes all the workers and 
employees of his district, independent of whether 
they are engaged in small or large branches of in- 
dustry, in private or state factories, in civil, mili- 
tary or militarized enterprises or institutions. 

The labor inspector makes a systematic tour of 
all the industrial enterprises and institutions of his 
district, which he is authorized freely to enter 
at any time of the day or night, as well as to visit 
any place where work is carried on, as well as every 
kind of building in any way connected with the 
workers, such as dwelling houses, hospitals, baths, 
kindergartens, nurseries, homes, schools and so forth. 
During visits to the various enterprises the admi- 
nistration and owners of such are bound to afford 
every assistance to the inspector and must not re- 
fuse to give explanations on the plea of trade sec- 
recy, which has been abolished by the proletarian 
revolution, along with the other secrets and privi- 
leges of the propertied classes. The labor inspector 

18 



is to discover all the deviations from and violations 
of the rules and regulations, whether with regard 
to the rights of the workers or with regard to tech- 
nical and sanitary protection of labor. All inspection 
takes place in conjunction with the representative 
of the local factory or works' Committee or other 
analogous committees. If, during the inspection 
a careless or spiteful attitude on the part of an 
owner or administration of the enterprise in question, 
is observed towards the interests of the life, health 
and protection of labor of workers and employees, 
the Labor Inspector takes the guilty party before 
the court or imposes a fine upon the same through 
the local Labor Department. 

According to the decree, the Labor Inspector 
should not only carefully supervise the enforcement 
of existing laws, but he is also given the right to take 
all necessary measures for the removal of any cir- 
cumstance which may be a menace to the life and 
health of the workers, even though such measures be 
not provided for by the law. In special cases when 
serious defects are discovered, the Inspector of 
labor has wide powers, including that of stopping 
machines or engines or looms, or even of closing 
down certain workshops or whole enterprises. 
Generally speaking, the Labor Inspector is the 
executive factor in our legislation, adapting all 
our regulations and decrees to the actual conditions 
and local peculiarities of a given district. With 
the consent and official sanction of the local trade 
union organizations, the inspectors may permit, in 
the event of extreme necessity, deviations from the 
existing standard, and establish the order in which 
one or another measure cannot be realized in its 
entirety, is to be enforced. 

The Labor Inspectors do not confine their activity 
to visiting enterprises alone. They are to set up 
inquiry offices, where the workers are given all 
necessary information with detailed instructions on 
all questions of labor and social welfare; they are 
to accept reports and complaints concerning viola- 
tion of labor protection laws and to direct workers 

19 



who seek information to the respective institutions. 
The Labor Inspectors take an active part in 
the activity of the organs of public economy, public 
health, food supply, public education, social welfare 
the housing question, and so forth; they raise 
here all questions in any way connected with labor 
protection, the health of the workers, and the im- 
provement of their general conditions of life, and 
directly participate in bringing about all the measures 
of these organs. Furthermore, the Labor Inspectors 
attract to the work of labor protection all the local 
labor organizations, by reading papers on their acti- 
vities, at the trade union sessions, at the general 
meetings of individual enterprises, among the women 
workers, among the working youth, as well as at 
specially convened general labor conferences. In ad- 
dition to this, the Labor Inspectors periodically de- 
liver lectures and reports, and supply the local press 
with articles on the protection of labor. 



20 



VII. The so-called Interlocal Inspection of IJabor. 

In every country of the world there are a number 
of individual groups of the proletariat who are not 
subject to labor protection laws. In reality in such 
countries the law includes only the industrial pro- 
letariat of factories and works which is best orga- 
nized, most class conscious, and therefore most 
dangerous to the bourgeoisie. At the same time, 
there is everywhere a large mass of disjointed, un- 
organized, and backward workers working under 
bad conditions, with whom State protection of labor 
in capitalist society has no concern. 

In Soviet Russia such a state of things is of course 
inadmissible. There are no pariahs in our midst; 
we are all one closely connected single labor fa- 
mily. General inspection of labor, usually con- 
sisting of the skilled workers of large industrial en- 
terprises, cannot embrace all the small home in- 
dustries, and disjointed enterprises, as well as those 
forms of labor, the conditions of which are dis- 
tinguished by certain peculiarities. 

For this purpose in Russia there has been estab- 
lished a so-called Interlocal Inspection. These In- 
spectors are part of the general system of State 
Inspection of Labor, but at the same time serve 
the needs only of workers of individual branches 
of industry, and are elected directly by the corres- 
ponding trade unions. In this manner the follow- 
ing special non-district inspections have been or- 
ganized: of the railway and water transport work- 
ers, builders, employees of the post and telegraph, 
radio and telephone services, agricultural work- 
ers, shop assistants, and also the workers engaged in 
supplying food in the capitals. For separate districts 
where the peasant home industry is greatly develop- 
ed, and also in large towns, where there is a large 

21 



number of various small concerns, such as work- 
shops, hotels, offices, cafes, restaurants, baths, barber 
shops, hospitals, drugstores, etc., there are special 
"small-industrial" inspectors. 



22 



VIII. Staff for Inspection of Labor. 

The staff for Labor Inspection acquires particular 
importance in view of the difficult conditions of the 
period of transition to socialism, and of the particu- 
larly acute economic disorganization and civil war; 
the immediate and complete realization of all the 
demands of the working class in the field of labor 
protection is absolutely impossible, and the most 
complex and responsible task of adaptation to life 
of the general demands of legislation, and the real- 
ization of all that which can be realized, is demanded 
even at the cost of the greatest difficulties. The 
institution of labor inspection is very young. It 
has not even had two full years of existence. The 
political situation was such that the trade unions 
had to give their best men to the war to protect 
the revolution, and next, to organization of industry, 
establishment of transportation, food supply, orga- 
nization of industry, organization of wage tariff acti- 
vity, etc. Yet, in spite of the acute shortage of respon- 
sible men, the working class proved itself capable of 
providing a goodly number of businesslike and in- 
telligent men for this field as well. And, what is 
most important of all, labor inspection almost en- 
tirely rests upon the proletariat itself, which makes 
us fully confident of the stability and power of this 
young institution. 

According to statistics for the month of April, 1920, 
there were elected altogether 405 Labor Inspectors; 
of these, there were 319 district and 86 other inspec- 
tors. The latter are divided as to their unions as 
follows: Railway Transport — 52, Water Transport — 
14, Builders — 4, Communications — 10, Interlocal in- 
spection of agricultural workers and shop assist- 
ants has only just begun to be organized, and em- 
ploys not more than 6 men at the present time. 
Of the Labor Inspectors, 375 are men and 30 women. 

23 



We thus see that in labor inspection a considerable 
number of women are represented, and it might be 
mentioned that both men and women can be equal- 
ly true Proletarian Labor Inspectors and that an in- 
dividual woman worker can freely become a general 
Labor Inspectress. The following is the distribution 
of Labor Inspectors according to trade: 

Workers 232 

Foremen and technicians . . 75 

General clerks 60 

Medical assistants 5 

Teachers 6 

Druggists 2 

Students 6 

Doctors 3 

Lawyers 1 

Engineers 2 

Unknown 13 

Altogether, including foremen there were 307 
workers, making 75 per cent, 60 employees making 
15 per cent, and 25 intellectuals making 6 $er cent. 
The class composition of the Labor Inspection is 
obvious. 

As to previous education, they are distributed as 
follows: 

Higher Education 16 

Secondary Education 38 

Secondary Technical and Craft 49 

Elementary Education 272 

Domestic Science Education 13 

Not known 17 

The latter category really overlaps with element- 
ary and domestic science education, in view of that 
fact that it consists mainly of workers. 

24 



Ages: 




Loca 


1 Interlocal 1 


Up to 


20 years . . 


1 


— 


1 




20—25 " 


32 


11 


,43 




25—30 w 


70 


18 


88 




30—35 " 


81 


26 


107 




35—40 " 


53 


14 


67 




40 — 45 " 


36 


15 


51 




45—50 " 


20 


— 


20 


above 


50 


8 


— 


8 


unknown 




. . .18 


2 


20 



The above table shows the greatest number of 
inspectors is of the most mature age and of ma- 
ximum fitness, — from 25 to 35. 



268 = 66% 



Party composition: 

Communists 183 

Sympathizers 85 

Mensheviks 15 

Left Soc-Revolutionaries 6 

Anarchists 2 

Zionist Socialists 1 

Bund 1 

Non-Party 93 

Unknown 18 



I assume that the data given above is quite suffi- 
cient to enable us to say with confidence that Pro- 
tection of Labor in Soviet Russia is in reliable hands. 



25 



IX. Special Inspections. 

The Labor Inspectors who, as we have seen, are 
in the majority of cases class conscious workers of 
a domestic education are incapable of realizing fully 
all the tasks in the sphere of Labor Protection. 
Very often substantial special knowledge is required. 
For this reason, to assist Labor Inspection, the 
Soviet Government has secured the assistance of 
the medical and technical services. In August 1918 
a technical inspection of engineers was instituted. 
In March 1919 Sanitary Inspection was introduced, 
all the inspectors for which were medical men. It 
has not been possible yet to put these two important 
institutions firmly on their feet, owing to the fact 
that at the present time the country is passing 
through a sharp crisis of lack of specialists. There 
are hardly enough engineers to go round for the 
work of reestablishing industry and transport, whilst 
the epidemics make felt the sharp need of doctors, 
in which Russia was at all times poor. At the pre- 
sent moment there are altogether 125 technical in- 
spectors and 50 medical inspectors. According to 
the general principles of our policy, specialists, doc- 
tors and engineers are more of a consultative, auxi- 
liary importance, assisting by their knowledge and 
special experience the Labor Inspector, who guides 
all their work, bearing the full responsibility for 
the condition of labor protection in his district. 

The technical and medical inspectors make a sy- 
stematic supervision of enterprises for the purpose 
of removing any defect or infringement of laws in 
the spheres of technical safety, sanitation and in- 
dustrial hygiene. In addition to this they make 

26 



an extensive study of all harmful trades, trade di- 
seases and accidents and investigate methods of 
combatting these. All their work, similar to Labor 
Inspection, is carried on in the closest contact with 
the trade unions under the latter's direct control. 



21 



Conclusions. 

It is quite obvious that although our Labor Ins- 
pection is composed, chiefly of the working class, this 
class was incapable of realizing all the aspects of its 
activity. A Labor Inspector makes only periodical 
visits to an enterprise, gives orders and directions 
but is incapable of establishing a daily control for 
their actual execution. In addition to this, Labor 
Protection gives actual results only when it is car- 
ried out by the whole working mass during 
its usual labor processes. For its maximum suc- 
cess the constant utilization is necessary of that 
knowledge of the peculiarities of every branch of 
individual piece of work, which is possessed by the 
workers engaged at the lathes who feel the necessity 
of carrying out the protection of Labor. Furthermore, 
it is necessary to attract to the creative active work 
of labor protection those who most need this pro- 
tection, the weakest elements of the working class — 
the women and the children. In order to achieve 
these tasks there are being established in Soviet 
Russia, side by side with Labor Inspection, special 
organs assisting and collaborating with the Inspec- 
tion in its complex and responsible work. At every 
trade union from top to bottom, from the central 
committee to the lowest uyezd branch, special de- 
partments of labor protection have been establish- 
ed. At every factory and works, at every enterprise 
and institution numbering above 15 men, a com- 
mission of labor protection has been formed. 

These organs vitalize the activity of the Labor 
Inspection by special knowledge of all the pecu- 
liarities and the demands of the industry in ques- 
tion. They also see to it that all the instructions 
and directions are not dead letters but are actually 
carried out in due time and without undue devi- 
ations. In the absence of the Inspector they carry 

28 



on the constant control of the supervision of legisla- 
tion on Labor Protection, and of the sanitary-hy- 
gienic state of enterprises, housing", schools, hospi- 
tals, baths and so forth. Special attention is to be 
paid to attracting into active work in Labor pro- 
tection the working youth, which in the person of 
its Communist League, represents a leading ele- 
ment, affording a great assistance to all the organs 
of the Soviet Government by presenting an example 
of energy and firm revolutionary faith in the 
righteousness of the workers' cause. In connection 
with all organs of the League there are economic 
legal departments which under the guidance of the 
Labor Inspectors carry on the Labor protection of 
minors. Moreover, in February of the year we laid 
the foundation of a special institution of assistant 
inspectors of labor from the midst of the League 
of Labor Youth. The best representatives of the 
proletarian youth, elected to these posts by the 
League in agreement with the Council of Trade 
Unions, are supported by the State and, thanks to 
this, are able to devote themselves fully to the 
work of Labor Protection. Whilst paying most at- 
tention to the protection of child labor, they at the 
same time assist the inspector in all the other aspects 
of its activity, thanks to which they continually gain 
experience as fully intelligent and efficient workers 
in labor protection. 

Finally, every measure is being taken to draw 
women workers to the work of labor protection. 
The general meetings of the representatives of 
women workers of every district elect special dele- 
gates who constantly participate in the activity of 
the local sub-department of Labor Protection, visit 
the enterprises under the guidance of the Labor 
Inspectors, attend special lectures, and take part 
in discussions on labor protection which are arran- 
ged by the Labor Inspection, and also closely par- 
ticipate in the realization of Labor Protection for 
women and children. 

Thus, thanks to persistent and detailed daily work, 
both of an organizing, agitational, cultural and edu- 

29 



cational character, we make sure that protection 
of labor in Soviet Russia does actually embrace il- 
limitably wide circles of working masses, who may 
be said fully to have become the "self-protectors" 
of the proletariat against all abnormal, difficult and 
harmful conditions with which the capitalistically 
organized public labor is connected, and which in- 
evitably lead to a physical and mental degeneration 
of the working masses. We have not by far suc- 
ceeded in fully realizing all the demands of labor 
protection. This is in the first place to be explained 
by the fact that, generally speaking, social measures 
can under no conditions be fully realized on a large 
scale within one or two years. In addition to the 
conditions prevailing in all countries, Russia was 
laboring under an uninterrupted three years' civil 
war and principally under a brutal and criminal 
blockade of the aggressive Entente, which prevent- 
ed among other things the full realization of pro- 
tection of labor. The armed counter-revolution 
supported by Anglo-French bayonets, bullets, and 
money, and at times even with human "cannon- 
fodder", compelled the Russian workers and pea- 
sants to strain all their forces for the defence of 
the Soviet system. At the same time the Western 
European capitalists, having economically isolated 
Russia from the whole world, contributed towards 
the extreme economic disorganization, tortured by 
hunger and cold the children of the proletariat, and 
it is clear enough that under such conditions not all 
the aspects of labor protection could be realized. 

However, Soviet Russia is slowly but surely ad- 
vancing along the road of extending and deepen- 
ing real social Protection of Labor. However diffi- 
cult the general position of the country is at the 
present time, the Russian workers nevertheless lay 
the cornerstone of the edifice of Labor Protection, 
whose problem it is to serve as the temple of 
healthy, beautiful and joyous labor. 



30 



Anniversary Issue 

of 

"Soviet Russia" 



On November 6, 1920, the fourth, anniversary 
of the founding of the Soviet Republic, "Soviet 
Russia", will appear as a special forty-page anni- 
versary issue, with articles reviewing the past 
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Those who remember our Anniversary Issue of 
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Soviet Russian 
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The September issues of Soviet Russia will 
contain the first installments of a series of im- 
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The first article of this series will appear in the 
issue of 

September 4, 1920 

and will be entitled : 

"The Organization of the Labor 
Market in Soviet Russia" 

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following subjects. 

"The Membership of the Collegiwrns" (the Col- 
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stitutions and Enterprises). 

"The Collectivization of Agriculture" 

"The Membership of the Petrograd Soviet" 

There will be altogether not less than six ar- 
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